family member abort; drowning; suffocation; placing animals in the body; obliging the victim to eat faeces; handing over the prisioner to another more violent repressive unit; strangulation; rape of a family member; shooting; killing; detaining a family member; rape; brainwashing and mutilation of some part of the body. There were also death threats involving actions such as: obliging the prisoner to dig his own grave, dance with a corpse, or play Russian roulette, amont others, 238 and 3. Threats against family members and friends: including pregnant women and small children or, even, torturing friends in front of the victim, so that he would feel guilty owing to the acts of the torturers and the suffering of those who were dear to him. 239 241. The facts described leave no doubt that the detention, torture and murder of Vladimir Herzog were, indeed, committed by State agents who were members of the Second Army’s DOI/CODI in São Paulo, as part of a plan to carry out a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population who were considered as “opposing” the dictatorship and, in particular, in this case, journalists and supposed members of the Brazilian Community Party. Mr. Herzog’s torture and death were not an accident, but rather the consequence of an extremely well-organized repressive machine, structured to act in this way and to eliminate physically any party-based or democratic opposition to the dictatorship, using practices and techniques documented, approved and closely monitored by the heads of the Army and the Executive Power. Specifically, his detention was part of Operation Radar, which had been set up to “combat” the PCB. Dozens of journalists and members of the PCB had been detained and tortured before Mr. Herzog and continued to be detained and tortured afterwards as a result of the systematic action of the dictatorship to dismantle and eliminate its presumed opponents. The Brazilian State, through the National Truth Commission, confirmed this conclusion in the Commission’s Final Report published in 2014. 242. The Court concludes that the acts perpetrated against Vladimir Herzog should be considered a crime against humanity, as this has been defined by international law since 1945, at least (supra paras. 211 to 228). Also, as indicated in the judgment in the case of Almonacid Arellano, at the time of the relevant facts of the case (October 25, 1975), the prohibition of crimes under international law and crimes against humanity had achieved the status of a peremptory norm of international law (jus cogens), which imposed on the State of Brazil and, indeed, on the whole international community, the obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for such conducts, because they constitute a threat to the peace and security of the international community (supra para. 212). ii) Obligations of the State following the classification of the torture and murder of Vladimir Herzog as a crime against humanity 243. In cases in which it is alleged that facts occurred that constitute torture and extrajudicial execution, it is essential that States conduct an effective investigation into the arbitrary deprivation of the right to life recognized in Article 4 of the Convention, aimed at determining the truth and at the identification, capture, prosecution and eventual punishment of the perpetrators. 240 This obligation acquires special significance when State agents are or 238 Cf. Report of the National Truth Commission, p. 376 (evidence file, folio 906). 239 Cf. Report of the National Truth Commission, p. 378 (evidence file, folio 908). Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia. Judgment of January 31, 2006. Series C No. 140, para. 143, and Case of Favela Nova Brasília v. Brazil, para. 177. 240 60